


Duckling,

by Autumnalpalmetto



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pets, Protective Andrew Minyard, andrew finds a baby duck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26208109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autumnalpalmetto/pseuds/Autumnalpalmetto
Summary: Andrew finds a duckling in his yard while walking his cat.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 7
Kudos: 173
Collections: AFTG Bingo Blackout 2020 - Cupcakes, All For The Game Bingo 2020





	Duckling,

**Author's Note:**

> aftg 2020 bingo prompt: imprinting

Get a cat, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.

Get a cat leash and walk the cat too, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.

It wasn’t unpleasant to have a cat in general, but having a cat that woke up him at 7am on a Sunday was. Once the cat had gotten used to the leash, she wanted to go outside constantly. Andrew could get up and feed her at 7 am and go back to sleep in seconds, but when she demanded to go on a walk right after there was no way he’d get back to sleep.

The cold morning air slapped him awake. Even with a thick sweater, it found its way into his bones.

“Five more minutes,” Andrew said to the cat, who clearly wasn’t listening. “Five more minutes, and then I’m going back to bed.”

The cat looked back at him with her giant eyes, silently begging to stay out just a little longer. Andrew gave in, not because it affected him, but because he knew if they went in before the cat was done she would bother him again soon. And since he wasn’t going back to sleep, there was no reason to rush her, he just wanted to be in his warm bed.

The cat wandered around the yard, poking and prodding at random spots, smelling the animals that had passed through overnight.

“Come on cat,” Andrew said as he gently tugged on the leash. “Time to go in.”

He’d given her an extra ten minutes, which he hoped would be enough time to tire her out for a nice long nap. The cat froze, crouching low and pointing. She wasn’t a hunter by any means, but instincts were strong and she’d noticed something Andrew had missed.

He looked around for anything that could have set her off and found nothing.

“What is it?” He crouched low, looking under the bush she was pointing at.

A tiny baby duckling appeared, crying out. Such a sad little quack had never been heard before. 

There was a pond nearby, but not close enough for this little friend to have wandered over alone. Perhaps his nest was nearby.

Andrew picked up his cat to stop her from lunging at it and took her in the house, the duckling following behind them slowly. Once she was put away, he found a small box and went back out to see the crying baby duckling. As soon as it spotted him it came running, crying at him until they met in the middle and it ran into his feet.

“Fuck,” Andrew said, realizing it was attached to him now.

He picked it up and cradled it to his chest until it calmed down, then lifted it to his face and looked it in the eye.

“What am I supposed to do with you?”

Andrew sighed as the duck quaked in his face. He cradled it to his chest again and turned back to the house. Each step was chosen with care, he had no idea how young the duckling was, or how fragile it may be. By the time they got to the door, the little thing had quieted down and was snuggled into the corner of his arm.

The first thing he did was go in his bedroom and lock the cat out. The next thing he did was make it a cozy home in a box under a lamp. With the duckling safely tucked away for the time being, he started googling what to do. Google wasn’t much help, so he called a local vet and asked for advice.

The consensus was a nice box, a warming light, plenty of water, and a duck egg yolk or two and then switch it to special duckling feed he could find at a local farm store.

Andrew was lucky enough to live in a townhouse with a small yard, but he wasn’t sure how well that would work for a duck. He could always give it a new home, but it had imprinted on him—or so it seemed—and abandoning a baby hit too close to home.

He dialed Neil’s number and waited.

“Andrew?”

“Ready to be a dad again?” Andrew and Neil both hated the foxes jokes about them being cat dads, but he wasn’t sure what else to say.

“You got another cat?” Neil laughed. “What are you going to call this one? Cat Two?”

Andrew rolled his eyes, calling his cat a cat was perfectly reasonable. “Guess again. Not a cat.”

Neil paused, taking time to consider. “You said you don’t like dogs.”

“Give up?” When Neil hummed Andrew took it as a yes. “I found a duckling in my yard this morning.”

“A duck? You just found a duck and decided to keep it?”

“It probably just hatched, the cat would have killed it if I hadn’t stopped it.” Andrew walked over to the ducks box and took a picture. “If even my useless cat could get it, it wouldn’t survive the morning out there alone.”

Neil laughed. “Sap, can I see?”

“Just sent you a picture.”

Neil laughed softly into the phone, making Andrew’s heart flutter. “Oh, Andrew, it’s so cute. Can I name it?”

“You can call it whatever you want. I’m going to call it duck.”

“Just like you call the cat ‘cat’, yeah, yeah. I know.” Neil huffed, sounded annoyed and amused at the same time. “When I visit next weekend, I want to see it the second I walk in the door.”

“As you wish.”

Neil hung up the phone without a proper goodbye, they found it easier that way. After taking a few more pictures of the duckling, Andrew sat and watched it waddle around, making little noises as it pleased. Eventually, he needed to go to the store and buy a few duck eggs and special food to feed it, as well as real animal housing equipment. He also needed to find a way to get the cat used to the idea of sharing her space. But for now he was content to sit and watch it, offering it a hand to snuggle whenever it sauntered by him.


End file.
